VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan stated that the government, on Monday, will sign a regulation prohibiting social media platforms to facilitate social commerce.

Hasan explained that social media platforms are only allowed to promote goods or services though are prohibited from being the platform for trade transactions.

"Social (media platforms) can only facilitate the promotion of goods or services and cannot (facilitate) direct transaction and direct payments, (so) it can no longer be, it can only be promotional," he stated after a limited meeting chaired by the president at the Presidential Palace Complex here on Monday.

The minister remarked that like television, social or other digital media platforms can only be a place to promote products and not as platforms for transactions.

"As a digital platform, it should only serve as a platform for promotion," he stressed.

The new regulation to be signed on Monday afternoon is a revision to Ministerial Regulation No. 50 of 2020.

In the new regulation, Hasan said, the government strictly separates "social commerce" and "social media" platforms.

"They must be separated, so they will not master all of the algorithms, and this prevents the use of personal data for business purposes," he remarked.

The new regulation also stipulates the positive list of goods or goods that are allowed to be imported. He noted that one of the goods that cannot be imported, or on the negative list, is batik.

According to the minister, with the new regulation, imported goods must have the same requirements as domestic goods, such as halal certification for food products and permission from the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) for skin care or beauty products.

"Electronic goods must have the standards, so (imported goods) are treated the same as domestic products," he stated.

The regulation also prohibits the sale of imported goods priced below US$100. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Ministry of Co-operatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the South Korean government, through the ASEM-SME Eco-Innovation Center (ASEIC), held a workshop on green transformation for small businesses.

"SMEs must be brave to change and commit to sustainable business practices to increase competitiveness in domestic and global markets and contribute to environmental sustainability," the ministry's secretary, Arif Rahman Hakim, noted in a statement received here on Monday.

He explained that the workshop "Capacity Building Program for Green Transition of Indonesian SMEs" was held on September 18-22, 2023.

Some 30 selected SMEs from various regions in Indonesia participated in the program.

"The participants were given a deep understanding of green business transformation, ranging from policies, challenges, opportunities, potential market, and funding schemes, to green business trends at national and international levels," Hakim pointed out.

The workshop panel included experts from the government, private sector, an industry association, and an international organization, as well as speakers from South Korea, he remarked.

"The participants received intensive mentoring and the opportunity to explore cooperation with South Korean SMEs in terms of technology transfer and joint venture," he stated.

In addition, the top 10 SMEs in the workshop will get to visit South Korea in November 2023 and be accompanied by experts to deepen their insights on business transformation.

One of the top 10 participants, Adhitya Prayoga, the head of Strategic Services at Waste4Change, expressed his intent to collaborate with Korean SMEs.

"Especially in terms of technology transfer and potential joint business in the future," he stated.

The ASEIC was established in 2011 to promote cooperation in green growth in Europe and Asia, with an emphasis on enhancing eco-innovation of SMEs in both regions. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), along with several ministers, discussed issues concerning trade activities on online platforms, including social media platforms, such as TikTok, at a limited meeting held at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Monday.

"(The meeting) was about trade on electronic systems. Yes, (including) TikTok," Minister of Communication and Informatics Budi Arie Setiadi remarked at the palace.

However, the minister did not divulge further details on the points discussed by the president and his ministers in the limited meeting.

Meanwhile, Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan explained that the limited meeting was conducted to discuss trade activities on digital platforms in a comprehensive manner.

"Yes, (the meeting discussed) digital (trade). The meeting was about e-commerce," Hasan stated.

Earlier, on Saturday (September 23), President Jokowi expressed his opinion regarding the negative effects resulting from trade activities conducted on social commerce platforms, such as TikTok Shop, which combine the functions and features of e-commerce and social media platforms that had been gaining popularity in Indonesia.

The head of state opined that the Chinese digital application should have continued to function as a mere social media platform and not as an online shopping platform like e-commerce since it harmed domestic businesses, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

"This (social commerce) has affected the production of MSMEs and (conventional) markets. It (TikTok) is supposed to be a social media (platform), not an economic media," he remarked after inspecting a road repair project in North Penajam Paser District, East Kalimantan.

Furthermore, President Jokowi noted that the government had prepared a regulation that aims to control trade activities conducted on social media platforms in order to control price competition and protect MSMEs and merchants in conventional markets.

"The regulation is still in the hands of the Trade Ministry. Every other thing is complete. We just need to wait for the Trade Ministry to approve (the regulation)," he pointed out.  (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Jakarta Environmental Service recorded a reduction of 86.47 tons of carbon emissions on Saturday (September 23) when the capital city commemorated World Ozone Day by turning off lights in some locations.

"On Saturday, there was carbon emissions (CO2) reduction of 86.47 tons," the Head of the Jakarta Environmental Service (DLH), Asep Kuswanto, said here on Sunday.

Kuswanto noted that the reduction was calculated from the total electricity saving of 102 MWh, where each kilowatt-hour (KwH) of electricity consumption is equal to 0.85 kilograms of CO2 emissions.

The city administration on Saturday turned off lights in 11 locations, including government buildings, roads, some restaurants, hotels, and apartments, from 20.30 to 21.30 local time, to commemorate World Ozone Day.

According to the state-owned electricity company, PT PLN of Jakarta Main Distribution Unit, the move has saved electricity consumption from 205 Megawatt-hour (MWh) to 102 MWh.

With the electricity tariff of Rp1,444.70/KWh, it has saved Rp146.9 thousand in electricity cost, Kuswanto added.

He mentioned that the regional government previously appealed to related parties to turn off lights in government buildings, symbols of the capital city, and roads in order to save electrical energy for one hour on Saturday at 20.30-21.30 local time.

However, lights and electricity at public service buildings such as hospitals and community health centers (puskesmas) still remained to provide service to the community.

"By turning off the lights for 60 minutes, we can help to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We also tried to educate the public to reduce carbon emissions by saving electrical energy and the economy as well," Public Relations Head of the DKI Jakarta Environmental Service, Yogi Ikhwan, said. (Antaranews)